Yale allegedly did not report four "forcible sex offenses" in 2001 and 2002. Additionally, the school did not explain its policies for alerting students about crimes that occur on campus.

The Clery Act mandates that any school where students get federal financial aid must report crimes on campus yearly.

The DOE investigation into Yale was prompted by a 2004 piece by a law school graduate in the alumni magazine.

The writer, Emily Bazelon, recounted an incident in 2001 when a female Yale sophomore was pinned down by a male junior in a dorm room. The sophomore said "stop" and "don't do this" while he masturbated on her. Yale's "sexual harassment grievance board" confronted the junior after she reported the assault, and the junior confessed, but the school never included it in its Clery report.

Bazelon pointed out that this lack of reporting could be responsible for Yale's low number of sex offenses relative to other Ivy League schools. Yale reported five sex offenses between 2000 and 2002. In the same period, Harvard reported 80 and Princeton reported 29.

In 2001, Yale reported 20 sex offenses.

In response to the $165,000 DOE fine, Yale told the New Haven Register that the school "fully supports the Department of Education's mandate under the Clery Act and believes that student safety is of paramount importance."

But they added that because the violations happened several years ago, the "imposition of maximum fines is not warranted."